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Walmart Hiccups and Investors Overreact

The retail industry is undergoing another major shift -- to e-commerce. How did we get here? Photo: Associated Press

By

Elizabeth Winkler

Feb. 20, 2018 1:12 p.m. ET

Over the last six months, Walmart was richly rewarded by shareholders for its apparent success at competing head-to-head with Amazon.com. On Tuesday, it showed signs of falling behind.

After three quarters of at least 50% e-commerce sales growth, Walmart reported that e-commerce revenue in the fourth quarter grew just 23%. Amazon’s revenue, including sales from Whole Foods, climbed 40% in the last period. Investors changed their minds on Walmart, sending its shares down nearly 10%.